Method of and apparatus for transporting and impregnating material



J. J. 'LYTH. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING AND IMPREGNATINGMATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10, I919.

Patented Jan. MT, 11922.,

mmen/or John vii #7 UNHTEID STATES Parent caries.

METHOD or AND APP 1,4Lt13,il26.

Specification of Letters Patent.

TUS FOR TRANSPORTING' AND IMPREGNATING MATIAL.

Patentez'l Jan. 1ND, 11922.,

Application filed February 10, 1919. Serial No. 276,211.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JAMns LYTH, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and resident of the city of Valleyfield, in the Province ofQuebec and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methods of and Apparatus for Transporting andImpregnating Material, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to improvements in a process of and apparatus fortransporting and impregnating cloth in rope form, and the object of theinvention is to provide means for transporting the cloth at a high speedand in such a manner that it is entirely isolated from light, dust orother foreign matter and prevented from contact with objects which wouldinjure the cloth or which would be injured by fluids with which thecloth is impregnated.

It has been demonstrated in connection with the bleaching of cottoncloth that a reat advantage is obtained if the cloth is impregnated withthe washing and bleaching liquors before it is placed in the kiers. Theadvantage is derived from two distinct sources, first, the freedom fromkier stains and second, the great possible acceleration of the bleachingprocess. Vhile the advantages to be derived are well known, it is foundimpracticable to impregnate the cloth with the washing and bleachingliquors before it is-placed in kiers for the reason that the cloth isdiflicult and extremely dangerous to handle in an impregnated condition,owing to the strongly corrosive action of the liquors usually employedfor impregnation.

According to this invention, the cloth is handled in rope form bypassing it through a tube. In order to overcome friction between thecloth and tube, fluid is introduced under pressure in the form of jetsdirected in the direction of desired movement. The fluid not only formsa kind of lubricant between the cloth and the tube but also forms animpelling and transporting medium. By this means, it is possible totransport the cloth at high speed through tubes of considerable lengthand also to pass the cloth easily and without appreciable loss of speedthrough tubes bending or turning in various directions. The impellingand transporting fluid may be either air or a gaseous or va- V oroussubstance, with which it is desired to impregnate the cloth, or may be aliquid which serves merely for transporting purposes or both fortransporting and impregnatlng.

In the drawings which illustrate diagrammatically apparatus for carryingout the process Fig. 1 is a general diagram of an installation.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating the method ofintroducing the impelling fluid.

eferring more particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a tube ofsuitable size which may be strai ht or bent to take any desireddirection. hanges of direction in the tube may be accomplished by meansof bends of large radius continuous until the desired new direction isattained, such as shown at 12, or by a series of slight bends separatedby lengths of straight pipe, as shown at 13. Wherever necessary in thelength of the pipe, collars 14 are provided each having an annularchannel 15 therein surrounding the pipe 11, into which channel theimpelling fluid may be introduced through a valve controlled pipe 16.These pipes 16 preferably lead from a fluid supply pipe 17, whichparallels the conveyor pipe 11. A series of small passages 18 arrangedat an acute angle to the axis of the pipe 11 are provided leading fromthe channel 15 into the pipe 11, so that jets of fluid may be directedinto the pipe, which .je'ts move in the general desired direction ofmovement through the pipe and which, by their convergence to the axis ofpipe, will tend to support an object in the pipe out of contact with thepipe. dency for an object in the pipe is to float in the transportingfluid along the axis of the pipe and out of contact with the wallthereof. For convenience, each collar 14: may have two channels 15 andtwo sets of passages 18, the passages ofone set being directedoppositely from the passages of the other, so that by emitting fluidfrom one set or the other movement may be induced in the pipe 11 ineither direction. The mouth 19 of the tube is preferably funnel-shapedboth for the purpose of facilitating the entry of the cloth and of air.

The operation of the process and apparatus is extremely simple. The endof a rope of cloth to be transported is fed through the pipe in anysuitable way and the transporting fluid then admitted. The jets of fluidIn other words, the ten tube so that the friction is very little. Whenthe impelling fluid is air or a gas, it is advisable to-have the clothrope wet during its passage through the tube, in order to avoid heatingand static electric discharges in the tube. If it is necessary to passdry cloth through the tube, any suitable form of static collectors maybe provided.

Where the impelling fluid used is a liquid, it will 'be possible to useany liquid with which it is desired to impregnate the cloth and thus aneconomy 'will be effected bysimultaneously transporting and impregnatingthe cloth. Under such cofi ditions the impregnation will be very perfecteven though the cloth is in rope form. Where it is desired to impregnatethe cloth with a liquid, it will preferably be passed into the tube indry condition, so that it will readily absorb the liquid. The amount ofliquid supplied at various points along the tube will naturally beregulated to compensate for the loss of transporting medium byabsorption in the cloth. It may develop in certain cases that differenttransporting media may be used in the length of the tube; that is tosay, a liquid may be used in part of the length of the tube fortransporting and impregnating the cloth and air or other gas used as atransporting medium in the remainder of the tube or in that portion ofthe tube through which the cloth passes after it has become thoroughlyimpregnated. Obviously, the jets of impregnating fluid and transportingfluid may be alternated throughout the length of the tube or in anyproportion of the length. Impregnation of the cloth by this means willbe very perfect in spite of the rope form in which the cloth is handled,owing to the high pressure at which the fluid impinges on the cloth.Pressures varying from ten to two hundred or more pounds per square inchmay be used according to circumstances and according to the speed atwhich it is desired to handle the cloth. It is obvious that by thisprocess, cloth may be impregnated with a liquid and subsequently with agas or vice versa, while transportation in other parts of the tube iseffected by the introduction of a neutral or inert fluid. v

Considered as a transportation problem alone, the invention oflers greatadvantages. The cloth may be handled at a much higher speed than is nowpracticable and the conditions under which it is moved are ideal formany purposes. In other words, the cloth may be handled when containingdye or other materials which are affected by light or ordinaryatmosphere. The cloth may be moved very rapidly for long distances andbe continuously protected from dust or contact with objects which wouldinjure or be injured by the cloth or any substance with which the clothis impregnated. Wet cloth may be handled in a mill without having aconstant drip from the cloth upon objects below. The cloth is moreovernot subject to tearing or other disruption, as it is when handled in theusual manner by winces or the like, so that very delicate fabrics may behandled in this way with perfect safety. The method of handling is quiteeconomical as with a proper relation between the size of the tube andthe size of the cloth rope only a comparatively small amount of fluid isrequired. This is due partly to the fact that unless means are taken forits prevention there is a strong suction of air into the month of thetube along with the cloth, so I that there is a film of fluid underpressure between the cloth rope and the tube wall. This fluid filmserves to lubricate the cloth. It is obvious that the tube may be eitherrigid or flexible.

\Vhile the invention has been described solely as applied to thetransporting and impregnating of cloth in rope form, it will beunderstood that it is equally applicable to the handling of any flexiblesubstance in rope form either for purposes of transportation orimpregnation. For example, rope drives which are sometimes of very greatlength may be supported between buildings in this manner and thusmaintained in a uniform condition of temperature, humidity or the like,so that there will be substantially uniform power transmissionregardless of atmospheric changes.

I am aware that it is well known to transport individual particles orbodies through a tube by air blast or air expansion and, therefore, makeno claim to such but limit this invention to the handling of acontinuous body.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A method oftransporting cloth in rope form, which consists in forcing it through atubeby means of fluid under pressure.

2. A method of transporting a continuous body of great length whichconsists in forcing it through a tube by means of jets of fluid directedagainst the body at an incline thereto.

' 3. A method of transporting a continuous body of great length whichconsists in forcing it through a tube by means of jets of fluid directedagainst the body at an incline thereto, and at intervals throughout the!length of the body within the tube.

4. A method of transporting a continuous neoaree body of great lengthwhich consists in forcing it through a tube by means of jets of fluiddirected against the body at an incline thereto, and converging towardthe axis of the body.

5. A. method of transporting a continuous body of great length whichconsists in forcing it through a tube by means of a plurality of seriesof fluid jets directed against spaced points in the length of the bodyin' the tube and inclined thereto and at said spaced points convergingupon the body.

6. A process of transporting and impregnating cloth in rope form, whichconsists in forcing the cloth through a tube by means of jets ofimpregnating fluid.

7. A method of impregnating cloth in rope form, which consists inpassing it through a tube and simultaneously directing jets of theimpregnating fluid under pressure upon the cloth.

8. A process according to claim 7, in which'the passage of the cloththrough the tube is effected by directing fluid jets upon the cloth inthe general direction of desired movement.

9. A method of transporting cloth in rope form, which consists inpassing the cloth through a tube and introducing fluid under pressure atsuitable intervals throughout the length of the tube to form alubricatingfilm of fluid between the cloth and the tube.

10. A method of transporting cloth in rope form, which consists inexposing the cloth in a tube to a, current of fluid of high velocitymoving through the tube in the di rection of desired cloth movement. 7

11. A method of transporting cloth in rope form, which consists infloating the cloth through a tube by means of a current of fluid at highvelocity and under pressure.

. 12. A method of transporting a continuous body of great length whichcomprises, passing the body through a tube by directing jets ofdiflerentfluids upon the body at different points in the length of thetube.

13. A process of simultaneously transporting and impregnating acontinuous body of great length which comprises forcing the body througha tube by means of fluid jets directed upon the body in the generaldirection of desired movement and simultaneously ldifiecting jets ofimpregnating fluid upon the 14. A method according to claim 13, in whichthe, jets of impregnating fluid are directed upon the body in thegeneral direction of desired movement and co-operate with the firstmentioned fluid jets in transporting the body.

15. method of transporting continuous bodies of great length whichcomprises forcing the body through a tube by means of fluid jetsdirected upon the body around substantially the entire circumferencethereof in the direction of desired movement, the velocity of the jetsbeing suflicient to support thg body substantially out of contact withthe tu e.

16. An apparatus for transporting continuous bodies of great lengthcomprising a tube through which the body passes, and means for directingjets of fluid upon the body within the tube in either of twosubstantially opposite directions.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN JAMES LYTH.

